THE CDTO – A BRIEF HISTORY

The Section II Track Officials Association currently known as the Capital District Track Officials (CDTO) has existed since 1974. It came into being to enable Section II to host the State Championship in 1974.

In 1973 Bruce Arnold (who became the first President of the local chapter) was a member of the Section II track committee; Brent Steuerwald of Shenendehowa was chairman. Section II was selected to host the 1974 State Track Championship but would not be able to because there was no certified local chapter of officials.

Initially Brent asked Bill Leonard, who was the head of the group of men who "officiated" the Eddy Meet, to expand their group and become certified by the State. Bill was reluctant to pursue the certification process. In the Spring of 1973 Brent asked Bruce Arnold to take the responsibility of organizing an association and obtaining certification.

Bruce attended all of the State meetings and did all of the paperwork necessary for chapter certification. The local organizational meetings were set up through letters and newspaper ads and tests were administered. In the Winter of 1974 Bruce was elected president of the association and presented a certified chapter to Section II.

The records from 1974 to 1977 are lost but memberships rosters for each year since 1974 have been maintained by the CDTO Historian, Gordon Brown.